The main mechanism for converting mainstream conservatives into right-wing extremists and white nationalists is a process I call transmission: extremist ideas and principles are repackaged for mainstream consumption, stripped of overt racism and hatefulness and presented as ordinary politics. As these ideas advance, they create an open environment for the gradual adoption of the core of bigotry that animates them.

This strategy was first enunciated by Patrick Buchanan back in 1989, in a nationally syndicated column that expressed a level of kinship with David Duke, who at that point was building momentum in a bid to win the Louisiana governorship. Buchanan thought the GOP overreacted to Duke and his Nazi "costume" by denouncing him; he urged:

Take a hard look at Duke’s portfolio of winning issues and expropriate those not in conflict with GOP principles, [such as] reverse discrimination against white folks.

It was a simple formula: Look at the issues that attract white supremacist votes, strip out the racism (or anything inimical to good public relations for the GOP) and present them to the public as fresh, "cutting edge" ideas. In the process, you’ll attract a lot of middle-class white voters who harbor unspoken racial resentments.

The voters who support the R's are NOT the local elderly, those are New Deal and Great Society voters. The current Thurston County R's are the 30-50 AWM's (Angry White Males) who do things like run motorcycle shops in Lacey, and arrange motorcycle rides to support the most vicious voluntary troops, the Special Forces. The numbers of these AWM's (many of whom work at Ft Lewis and commute from bedroom communities in Lacey and Olympia) are GROWING. Recent city elections have shown this. They also have families who vote with them. They tend to be fundys, or conservative members of more established churches. They tend to vote on moral and fiscal triggers, rather than simply party or personality. They are beginning to encourage conservative Dems (O'Sullivan) to come out of the closet and switch. They have money, and make that money from us - often in rent or restaurant revenues. Often in Gov't salaries, both state and federal.

So yes, I think this community could suffer if Nazis are ignored and the crowd of loonies at the Church of the Living Water runs candidates who look liberal by comparison.

I stand in solidarity with the people who are targeted by the NSM; I stand for life with dignity. I do not stand for a correct moral position, or a better idea... I stand in physical defense of diversity (and even rallies of nonconfrontationals). I stand with my class, the working class, against an ideology directly opposed to organized labor.